OK, line-up and get a big helping of 19 points on this Monday morning. Feast on these, and if you feel the urge to respond, go get ’em.

1. Yesterday’s trophy presentation at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill tournament was held out in the middle of the big lake that surrounds the 18th green. Arnold, the tournament director and some tie-wearing guy from the PGA Tour took a small boat out to the 30×70 foot platform that had been built for the occasion. Tiger donned a robe and some sandals and walked on water out to the platform.

2. Seattle gave up 168 points in a regular season NBA game last night? 168? That’s what I’ve been saying about the NBA for a long time. About every 8 to 10 games, most teams pick a night (day) and don’t even try. It’s hard to really like the league when you never quite know if the team you’re watching wants to win.

3. This is probably obvious, but here is your Maryland hoops MVP voting for ’07-08. 1. Greivis Vasquez 2. James Gist 3. Bambale Osby – Kinda weird, since Vasquez was not only the team’s MVP but also the LLP (Least Liked Player).

4. For what it’s worth, the Ravens still believe Steve McNair can play in the NFL. At a media luncheon last week, John Harbaugh said McNair is the incumbent and the job is his heading into training camp. He did note, however, that he’s eager to see Kyle Boller and Troy Smith in camp as well and issued the very Billick-esque line of: ”we’ll go with the quarterback that gives us the best chance to win each week”.

5. There will be no George Mason “cinderella story” in 2008. I like their team, but they’re not beating Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

6. I should have suspended the Orioles a long time ago. Last week was a great week for me, personally and professionally, as I didn’t get frustrated or angry with the team one time for not returning my calls, e-mails or text messages because I stopped reaching out to them. I only wish I’d have done it sooner. Oh well, Edison tried to invent the light bulb 20,000 times before he finally got it right.

7. Wouldn’t it be great if the Capitals steal that last playoff spot from those rat-fink scallywags in Philadelphia? Oh, the glory of keeping the Flyers OUT while you’re getting IN. If there’s a hockey God…

8. I think Seth Greenberg has a right to be disappointed at not getting an at-large bid, probably more than anyone else in the country. If they would have won Saturday’s game with UNC, they would have made it right? Well, that means ONE game in which they lost with eight-tenths of a second left cost them a trip to the tournament. Wow, that’s a pretty narrow margin for the committee to slice up.

9. The rumor on the street is that Eric Hayes is going to transfer from Maryland. That’s a good thing. No offense to the kid, because I think it’s very tough for ANYONE to play alongside Vasquez, but Hayes is not going to get the team to the next level.

10. I know some people think Houston’s 22-game NBA winning streak is a little watered down because they’ve played 15 of the 22 at home, but I don’t care what league you’re in and how many were played at home…you win 22 games in a row, that’s special. They go for #23 in a row tomorrow at home (vs. Boston).

11. OK, maybe I was wrong about Luis Hernandez.

12. I hear a lot of people complaining that there are too many “little schools” in the NCAA tournament. Well, if the “big schools” would occasionally play the really good mid-major “little schools”, perhaps there would be more separation come tournament selection-time. But, you and I both know Gary Williams (just as an example) would never take his Terps on the road for games at VCU, Siena, Butler and/or Bucknell.

13. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the Orioles would give Steve Trachsel the opening day start on March 31 against Tampa Bay.

14. Tennessee will be the first #2 seed to be bounced from the tournament.

15. I don’t have my bracket finished yet, but here’s my first “early call” — a #3 seed goes to the Final Four.

16. Tiger’s win on Sunday ties him with Ben Hogan at 64 career wins. Hogan was known to be a surly, abrasive kind of guy who wasn’t the nicest fellow on Tour. Once, Nick Faldo flew to Ft. Worth with the hope of arranging a chance meeting with Hogan. Faldo was struggling with his swing and wanted Hogan to take a look at it — Faldo took a private jet to Ft. Worth and entered Shady Oaks Country Club unannounced and asked for a meeting with Hogan. One of the assistant golf professionals went to the restaurant where Hogan was having lunch. “Mr. Hogan, Nick Faldo is here and wanted to know if you’d take a look at his swing. He’s out on the range hitting balls. I’ll be happy to get a cart and take you out there.” Hogan looked up at the young man. “Does he play Hogan clubs?,” he asked. “Uh, no sir, he plays Mizuno clubs,” the young pro responded. Hogan looked out at the range and saw Faldo out there by himself, hitting balls in the searing July heat. “I think I’ll just sit here and finish my wine,” Hogan said. He never went to the range to watch Faldo.